WO2013025721A1 - Distributeur de nourriture et procédé associé - Google Patents

Distributeur de nourriture et procédé associé Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2013025721A1
WO2013025721A1 PCT/US2012/050799 US2012050799W WO2013025721A1 WO 2013025721 A1 WO2013025721 A1 WO 2013025721A1 US 2012050799 W US2012050799 W US 2012050799W WO 2013025721 A1 WO2013025721 A1 WO 2013025721A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
gas
duty cycle
flow
psi
pressure
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2012/050799
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Craig Cloud
Original Assignee
FBD Partnership
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by FBD Partnership filed Critical FBD Partnership
Priority to CN201290000893.4U priority Critical patent/CN203913270U/zh
Publication of WO2013025721A1 publication Critical patent/WO2013025721A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
    • A23G9/00—Frozen sweets, e.g. ice confectionery, ice-cream; Mixtures therefor
    • A23G9/04—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream
    • A23G9/20—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream the products being mixed with gas, e.g. soft-ice
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
    • A23G9/00—Frozen sweets, e.g. ice confectionery, ice-cream; Mixtures therefor
    • A23G9/04—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream
    • A23G9/045—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream of slush-ice, e.g. semi-frozen beverage
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
    • A23G9/00—Frozen sweets, e.g. ice confectionery, ice-cream; Mixtures therefor
    • A23G9/04—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream
    • A23G9/22—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
    • A23G9/00—Frozen sweets, e.g. ice confectionery, ice-cream; Mixtures therefor
    • A23G9/04—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream
    • A23G9/22—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups
    • A23G9/28—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups for portioning or dispensing
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T137/00—Fluid handling
    • Y10T137/7722—Line condition change responsive valves
    • Y10T137/7758—Pilot or servo controlled
    • Y10T137/7761—Electrically actuated valve
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T137/00—Fluid handling
    • Y10T137/8593—Systems
    • Y10T137/87571—Multiple inlet with single outlet
    • Y10T137/87676—With flow control

Definitions

  • This disclosure relates generally to food dispensing machines, and more particularly to frozen carbonated beverage machines.
  • Food dispensing machines such as frozen carbonated beverage machines produce a frozen beverage by freezing a mixture of water, syrup concentrate and carbon dioxide in a mixing, or freezing, chamber.
  • the freezing chamber is typically surrounded by a coil that contains refrigerant to cause freezing of the mixture inside to a desired level of consistency.
  • the mixture is removed from the inner surface and mixed by a rotating shaft driving a scraping/mixing member attached to the shaft.
  • the frozen mixture consistency is controlled by any of a number of methods that turns on the refrigeration to freeze and turns off the refrigeration when the mixture reaches the desired consistency. A consumer can then dispense the product as desired through a dispensing valve.
  • the water and syrup concentrate are usually supplied to the freezing chamber via flow controls to maintain a precise flow rate of liquid even as the inlet and/or discharge pressures vary.
  • the carbon dioxide gas flow rate is controlled via a regulator and orifice.
  • the volume of the product dispensed from the mixing chamber is defined as "overrun.”
  • a beverage that doubles its volume when it is dispensed from the mixing chamber in a semi-frozen state is defined as having an overrun of 100%.
  • the more carbon dioxide that is added to the mixing chamber the higher the overrun. It is desirable to be able to control overrun so that the consistency of the product can be maintained.
  • the regulator controls the pressure of gas input to the freezing chamber, but the discharge pressure from the regulator can vary and result in fluctuations in the gas flow rate.
  • One method to mitigate this fluctuation is to increase the inlet pressure to the regulator until the normal discharge pressure range from the regulator is low enough as not to affect the flow rate.
  • pressure regulators can drift, resulting in variations in the discharge pressure. Further, the carbon dioxide content of the finished product often needs to be adjusted to produce the desired drink consistency.
  • a food dispensing machine and method are disclosed.
  • the machine includes a product chamber and an ingredients source including a gas source connected to the product chamber.
  • a flow control device is configured to control ingredients flow from the ingredients source to the product chamber.
  • a pressure measurement device is configured to output a gas pressure signal, and a controller is configured to receive the gas pressure signal and determine a gas flow control signal based on the gas pressure signal. The controller outputs the gas flow control signal to the flow control device.
  • Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating aspects of a food dispensing machine in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
  • Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a gas flow control system suitable for the machine shown in Figure 1.
  • Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating further aspects of the gas flow control system shown in Figure 2.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a food dispensing machine machine system 10 in accordance with the present disclosure.
  • the system 10 includes an ingredient supply 12, a flow control 14, a control circuit or controller 16, and a product chamber 18.
  • the machine 10 is a frozen carbonated beverage dispensing machine.
  • the ingredient supply 12 includes water, syrup and carbon dioxide.
  • the product chamber 18 is a freezing chamber, and typical systems may include two or more freezing chambers 18 and associated syrup supplies allowing a single system to provide multiple beverage flavors.
  • Water and syrup are flow from their respective sources to the freezing chamber 18 via the flow control 14.
  • the flow control 14 includes, for example, a brix adjuster that controls the amount of syrup that is mixed with the water and a solenoid controls the flow of the syrup/water mixture.
  • the flow controllers for the water and syrup typically are set manually.
  • the freezing chamber 18 is cooled by a refrigeration system that may be controlled by the controller 16.
  • the controller 16 can be implemented by an appropriately programmed computer device as would be apparent to one skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
  • the chamber 18 is surrounded by a coil that contains refrigerant to cause freezing of the mixture inside to a desired level of consistency.
  • the mixture is removed from the inner surface and mixed by a rotating shaft driving a scraping/mixing member attached to the shaft.
  • the frozen mixture consistency is controlled by any of a number of methods that turns on the refrigeration to freeze and turns off the refrigeration when the mixture reaches the desired consistency.
  • the product is then dispensed from the freezing chamber 18 by a dispensing valve
  • FIG. 2 illustrates further aspects of the system 10.
  • carbon dioxide gas (C0 2 ) is supplied from a C0 2 supply such as a tank 20 to a pressure regulator 22 configured to adjust the pressure of the carbon dioxide provided to the mixing chamber 18.
  • a gas other than C0 2 is provided.
  • air can be injected into the beverage to produce a frozen uncarbonated beverage.
  • the pressure of the carbon dioxide flowing into the regulator 22 from the tank 20 is approximately 70 psi in some embodiments, with the pressure of the carbon dioxide exiting the regulator 22 and being supplied to the mixing chamber 18 being about 60 psi.
  • the pressure of the regulated C0 2 gas is measured by a pressure measurement device 24 such as a pressure transducer.
  • a pressure measurement device 24 such as a pressure transducer.
  • a model 90CP2-1 0231 (0-100 PSIG) from Sensata Technologies, Inc. is used.
  • the pressure measurement is provided as an input to the controller 16, which provides a control signal to a flow control device such as a solenoid 26 to control the flow of the C0 2 gas to the freezing chamber 18 based on the determined gas pressure.
  • a suitable solenoid is provided in one implementation by Kendrion Tri-Tech LLC of Mishawaka, IN, Part No. 19390001C.
  • Other embodiments are envisioned in which other aspects of the gas are monitored and used as an input to the controller. For example, the measured pressure could be compared to a target pressure and the pressure error could be received by the controller 18 to determine a control signal.
  • the gas flow rate is controlled by varying a pulse- width modulation (PWM) signal controlling the solenoid 26.
  • PWM pulse- width modulation
  • the average on time of the solenoid 26, and thus the gas flow rate is controlled by taming the solenoid on and off (opening and closing) at a fast pace.
  • the term duty cycle describes the proportion of "on" time to the regular interval or "period" of time. A lower duty cycle corresponds to shorter on time of the solenoid 26 because the solenoid is off for most of the time period. Duty cycle is expressed in percent, with 100% being fully on.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a gas flow control process and system.
  • the controller 18 receives a gas pressure measurement signal 100.
  • the pressure signal 100 is provided by the pressure transducer 22 such that the controller 18 receives an indication of the regulated C0 2 pressure.
  • the controller 18 includes a function 110 that calculates a duty cycle 112 based on the pressure measurement signal 100.
  • the calculated duty cycle 112 is provided to a solenoid driver 114 that converts the duty cycle 112 to a control signal that is output to the solenoid 26.
  • the flow rate of C02 to the product chamber is dynamic - it can be recalculated and if necessary, changed based on changes in gas pressure.
  • this is implemented via an empirically derived look up table stored in a memory associated with the controller 18.
  • Table 1 below is an example of a portion of such a look up table, illustrating the duty cycle corresponding with pressures ranging from 60psi to 75psi. Of course, the entire look up table would likely have a larger range of gas pressures and corresponding duty cycles. Table 1
  • the controller 18 also receives a target flow rate signal 102, which is also used as an input by the function 110 to calculate the duty cycle 112.
  • the desired flow rate 102 could simply represent a desired C0 2 flow rate, or it could be expressed in terms of a desired overrun, for example, when implemented in conjunction with a frozen beverage machine.
  • a higher gas flow results in a higher the overrun, so that the beverage produced will be the lighter.
  • the look up table additionally includes a desired flow input. Table 2 below is an example of a portion of such a look up table, adding desired flow ("flow") to the data included in Table 1 above.

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un distributeur de nourriture, qui comprend une chambre de produit et une source d'ingrédients comprenant une source de gaz reliée à la chambre de produit. Un dispositif de commande de flux est configuré pour commander aux ingrédients de circuler de la source d'ingrédients à la chambre de produit. Un dispositif de mesure de pression est configuré pour délivrer en sortie un signal de pression de gaz, et un contrôleur est configuré pour recevoir le signal de pression de gaz et déterminer un signal de commande de flux de gaz sur la base du signal de pression de gaz. Le contrôleur délivre en sortie le signal de commande de flux de gaz au dispositif de commande de flux.
PCT/US2012/050799 2011-08-17 2012-08-14 Distributeur de nourriture et procédé associé WO2013025721A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN201290000893.4U CN203913270U (zh) 2011-08-17 2012-08-14 食物分配机器和方法

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US13/211,479 2011-08-17
US13/211,479 US8875732B2 (en) 2011-08-17 2011-08-17 Food dispensing machine and method

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2013025721A1 true WO2013025721A1 (fr) 2013-02-21

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2012/050799 WO2013025721A1 (fr) 2011-08-17 2012-08-14 Distributeur de nourriture et procédé associé

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (1) US8875732B2 (fr)
CN (1) CN203913270U (fr)
WO (1) WO2013025721A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US11214476B2 (en) * 2006-03-06 2022-01-04 Deka Products Limited Partnership System and method for generating a drive signal
WO2016064794A1 (fr) * 2014-10-20 2016-04-28 Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. Circuit d'écoulement pour machine à boissons gazeuses
US10645947B2 (en) 2015-07-31 2020-05-12 Fbd Partnership, Lp Frozen beverage dispenser
US10327455B2 (en) 2016-07-30 2019-06-25 Fbd Partnership, Lp Dispensing system
US10712063B2 (en) 2016-10-17 2020-07-14 Fbd Partnership, Lp Frozen product dispensing systems and methods
US10537093B2 (en) * 2017-10-11 2020-01-21 Mark O. Hamran Electronic gas dispenser control system having backflow and pressure sensors
US11655908B2 (en) * 2019-05-02 2023-05-23 Engineered Controls International, Llc Low pressure shut off valve and system

Citations (4)

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US20070017234A1 (en) * 2005-06-06 2007-01-25 Steven Moulder Apparatus and method for dispensing frozen carbonated beverages
US20090202701A1 (en) * 2006-05-09 2009-08-13 Max Puaud High pressure freezing of frozen desserts

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US4590970A (en) * 1983-09-22 1986-05-27 Honeywell Inc. Pulse width modulated pressure source
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US7905373B2 (en) * 2006-03-06 2011-03-15 Deka Products Limited Partnership System and method for generating a drive signal
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US20020043071A1 (en) * 2000-08-18 2002-04-18 Frank Jimmy I. Frozen beverage machine
US20060159821A1 (en) * 2004-11-17 2006-07-20 Brisson John G Frozen food production
US20070017234A1 (en) * 2005-06-06 2007-01-25 Steven Moulder Apparatus and method for dispensing frozen carbonated beverages
US20090202701A1 (en) * 2006-05-09 2009-08-13 Max Puaud High pressure freezing of frozen desserts

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US8875732B2 (en) 2014-11-04
US20130045311A1 (en) 2013-02-21
CN203913270U (zh) 2014-11-05

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